Word of Mouth

Have you ever wondered why there's no word for that universal affliction of early morning worry & wakefulness? Or how to describe the act of eking every last drop of washing up liquid out of the bottle? Mark Forsyth, author of The Etymologicon, takes Michael Rosen and linguist Dr Laura Wright on a lexical expedition into what he calls the 'sewer system' of the English language- where words lie lost, forgotten or banished- until now. Producer Kirsty McQuire.

How do you find the right words to make- or break- a personal relationship? Or to leave a political union, for that matter? To consider the clichés and coinages used to negotiate matters of the heart by everyone from novelist Edith Wharton to actress Gwyneth Paltrow, Michael Rosen & linguist Dr. Laura Wright are joined by Zoe Strimpel of the University of Sussex. Also, in the aftermath of the UK's EU Referendum, author & journalist Sam Leith riffs on the term 'Brexit' and the infectious wordplay it spawned. Producer Kirsty McQuire.

Michael Rosen talks to Keith Houston about punctuation symbols and how they came to exist. Keith is the author of Shady Characters: Ampersands, Interrobangs and Other Typographical Curiosities. Producer Beth O'Dea.

Michael Rosen and art critic Andrew Graham-Dixon take a tour through the naming of art movements. Surrealism, Impressionism, the Renaissance, the Pre-Raphaelites, Modern, Contemporary - how did they get their names and what does that tell us? Which terms have entered the language? With linguist Dr Laura Wright. Producer Beth O'Dea.

Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright explore irregular verbs with Dr Marcelle Cole, and a contribution from Steven Pinker. What are they, where did they come from, and why do they exist in English? Are there any new ones being produced, and how are they used in real life? Producer Beth O'Dea.

Michael Rosen on a new Roald Dahl dictionary collecting the amazing words he invented - like squackling, and wondercrump! With Dr Laura Wright and dictionary editor Dr Susan Rennie. Producer Beth O'Dea.

Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright talk PR with Public Relations practitioner Hamish Thompson. He's collated examples of the words and phrases used in PR that people find most annoying, and is on a mission to root them out. Epic..or epic fail? Producer Beth O'Dea.

Michael Rosen and Dr. Laura Wright talk to Dr Ross Wilson about how we talk about historical eras in order to define the way we live now, and how we've progressed. Ross Wilson is a historian at the University of Chichester who's written a book called The Language of the Past delving into the origins of terms about periods in history - Stone Age, mediaeval, Victorian Values - when we came up with them and why we use them. How historically accurate are they and does it matter? Producer Beth O'Dea.

Michael Rosen talks to Dr Laura Wright about her new research on popular house names, from Foo Choo Villas to Nutty Hagg to Orchard Cottage, and what this tells us about our history. She's uncovered why some houses have names but some have numbers, and what this tells us about our history. Place names expert Professor Richard Coates joins them to talk about the origins of these words in the UK. Producer Beth O'Dea.

Steven Pinker, Professor of Psychology at Harvard University and author, discusses his fascination with language, the importance of clear writing, and the perception of language decline. They explore bilingualism in Montreal, the influence of Yiddish, and the role of conventions in language usage.